


Merpeople

by wildwinterwitch



Series: Cloisters [12]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 01:05:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildwinterwitch/pseuds/wildwinterwitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On holiday in Barracan, Mia Tyler is invited to a sleepover and her parents suddenly find themselves with a whole night to themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [](http://sistersofguh.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://sistersofguh.livejournal.com/)**sistersofguh** end of summer smut-a-thon. Prompt picture behind the cut.

I was wearing my sunglasses but I had to blink anyway when I looked up from my book. I'd been so engrossed in the story that I'd completely forgotten about everything around me. Returning to the sunlit beach after the wintry setting of the novel was a bit of a shock. The rushing of the waves and the scraps of conversation and laughter that drifted towards me from Tayar and Fenia's pavilion sounded preternaturally loud. Fenia and Ani were playing a board game while the baby slept in her bassinet next to them.

The shadow of our pavilion had wandered so that the right side of my body was exposed to the sun. I shifted back into the shade and, despite my glasses, shielded my eyes with my hand to look for the Doctor and Mia.

The Doctor was still busy building the sandcastle he and Mia had started earlier. The gentle breeze was playing with his hair and tugging at the loose shirt he was wearing. He was on his knees, sculpting an elaborately decorated tower. Mia, however, was nowhere to be seen.

I froze. My gaze turned swiftly towards the gentle waves not far from the castle. What if she had wandered off, bored by her father's concentration? We had both lost ourselves completely in our respective fantastical worlds, his castle and my book. Mia loved the sea; it was hard to get her out of the water, even when her teeth were clattering and her lips had turned blue. But there was no one in the water.

Just as I was about to call out to the Doctor, my chest tight, I heard voices behind me. When I turned around I saw it was Tayar with the boys and Mia. She was skipping along, her ponytail swishing excitedly. When they reached the edge of the beach Tayar held her back with his arm around her middle. He whispered something to her as she leaned into him. She nodded, her cheeks dimpled by her mischievous smile. Then she ran towards her father, ignoring me.

“Daddy!”

He looked up at once, despite his concentration he was always aware of what was going on around him, particularly when it came to Mia. He sat back on his heels and opened his arms as she threw herself at him. I could hear a little “Oof,” escaping him as she wrapped her arms around him.

I closed my book and watched them. They shared a very special bond, and sometimes I couldn't help feeling a little left out. It was silly, I knew, but since I had never known my father I had given all my love to my Mum; until I met the Doctor and then had Mia, I couldn't imagine extending this kind of unconditional love to anyone. I was very glad that Mia had both of us.

“Hey, _accalein_ ,” Tayar said. He was standing just outside the pavilion and I gestured for him to join me. The pavilion was a tent without walls erected over a collection of blankets, cushions and a very low table; Mia called it our parlour on the beach. I watched her producing something from the pocket of her dress, cupping it carefully in both her hands to show her treasure to her daddy. The Doctor cradled her hands in one of his and looked at what lay nestled there, probably a beautifully coloured pebble or a shell; the empty husk of a Ruulim firefly, or maybe a couple of the rare _nisiuu_ berries that grew in the grassy dunes behind the beach. His face lit up, and he raised his head, his eyes searching mine. When our gazes locked, he blushed a little and bent his head to whisper to our daughter.

“We went for a little walk,” Tayar said, watching his boys join the board game. His arms went around his bare knees. “I should have told you I was taking Mia, but you were so lost in your book I didn't want to disturb you.”

“It's okay,” I said. “Fenia and the Doctor would have told me.”

“Are you all right? You look a little sad,” he asked.

I smiled at him, glad for my sunglasses. Then I looked at the Doctor and Mia again. He was cuddling her to him, showering her face with little kisses and she was giggling. "Not sad, no, not really. It's just that I never really knew my father,” I said.

“Oh,” Tayar said. “I'm sorry.”

“I only missed him when I saw Mum did,” I said. “Sometimes, she'd pull out an old photo album and tell me stories. Once, I talked the Doctor into taking me to see him; it nearly destroyed the universe, but it was so worth it. I would have loved to get to know him better. To see if I could share Mum with him.”

Tayar remained silent, and I was glad I had told him. I didn't expect him to say anything, because what could you possibly say? His presence and his willingness to listen were why I loved him so much, and a silence shared with him was never awkward.

The breeze brought a bit of a relief from the heat and made the wind chimes Mia had insisted we put up tinkle. Even at the seaside, a short tram journey from Barracan, it was very hot, but it was better than staying in dusty Lufana. The past several summers there had been much like our first summer on Ruul: extraordinarily hot, and by now the people from the University had joined the people from the Observatory to research the phenomenon. The Doctor was sure that Ruul was undergoing a climate change, only that it was not an ice age, but a fire age.

We shared the huge cloistered villa at the beach with Tayar's family. It was called Accala, because there was a large reef of _acca_ just outside the cove. A path made up with faded grey boards led from the open side of the cloister at the heart of the villa down to the private beach, continuing, in a manner of speaking, out into the water as a long, silvery grey jetty. We came to Accala as often as we could; even in winter it was beautiful out here. It was here that the Doctor had recovered from the winter fever, and we both were sure it was the place I had gotten pregnant with Mia.

Just then, the baby began to cry, rousing both of us from our thoughts. “Ah,” Tayar said. “She wants me.” He climbed to his feet. “I was meaning to say, the _nimi_ want to have a sleepover at ours tonight; something about ghost stories. I don't know how they come up with these things,” he said. “Is it okay if Mia joins us?”

I nodded, grinning. “Of course.”

The baby cried more insistently. The left corner of his mouth twitched. “Stupid question,” he said and left. I watched him pick up the baby and feel her diaper-padded bum. He grimaced and left for the villa to change and feed her. Fenia smiled up at him and I had to look away. Yoru would have been so happy to see his sister like this. He'd been ecstatic when the twins arrived. I wished dearly he were still with us to see that they'd gotten another brother and sister; that I'd had Mia.

The Doctor had let go of Mia and she was inspecting the castle, looking at times thoughtful and delighted. Tom joined them, dropping to his knees beside her. I smiled. Mia and Tom were inseparable, despite the age difference. One would think that Tom, at nearly eight, wouldn't bother with five year-olds, not even with his younger brother. Mia, however, was different; wherever she was, Tom wasn't far, and vice versa. The Doctor, Tom and Mia were discussing the castle in earnest, completely oblivious to the world around them.

“Rose?” Startled, I looked up. It was Ben, looking shyly at me. He was very quiet, just like his father, and the most serious five year-old I'd ever seen.

“Hi, Ben,” I said, smiling.

“I'd like to go swimming. Will you go with me?” The children weren't allowed in the water unless one of us went with them, although all four of them were good swimmers. We felt that they needed more experience before they could go swimming alone. Lufanians did not go swimming at all, and since there were no pools anywhere in the city, the _nimi_ only ever practised when we were staying at Accala.

“That's a good idea,” I said, taking off my glasses and pulling my sun dress over my head to reveal my bathing suit. The TARDIS had equipped both our families with swim suits since the ones available in Barracan were made of a material that when waterlogged became heavy and uncomfortable, making moving in the water unnecessarily hard, and dangerous. Ben had already changed into his swim suit and took my hand as soon as I was ready.

The water was warm, but cool enough to be refreshing, and in the shelter of the cove the waves were gentle. They could, however, turn into a force to be reckoned with, and naturally that was when the children wanted to play in them most. I usually joined them then, despite my fear, because staying in the house or watching from the beach was not an option I'd go mad with worry, so it was better to throw myself into the waves.

-:-

“Mummy!”

When Mia’s voice rang through the house I jumped a little. Although I knew that the Doctor was with her, she cried my name with such urgency and distress that I was slightly alarmed; my worst nightmare was of hearing her cry for me like that and being unable to find her, or not in time to save her. I quickly covered the picnic basket with a clean tea towel and put it beneath the counter before she ran into the kitchen. I crouched, opening my arms for her. To my surprise she was in her pyjamas, her hair in a plait; she was ready for bed. Had she changed her mind?

“What’s up, _accanim_?” I asked her, rubbing her back soothingly.

“I wanted to go over to Tom’s,” she sniffed.

“Yeah, that was the plan. What happened?” I asked, peeling her little arms off my neck so I could look at her. Tears were welling in her dark eyes and her bottom lip was trembling. This was real, not crocodile tears.

“Tayar said I could come over tonight. For ghost stories!” she said, her eyes lighting up at that last sentence. Mia loved a good story. Ghost stories were the latest craze with the kids. I had no idea who had come up with it.

“Yeah, he did,” I said, confused. “Did he say you couldn’t come?” There went my plans for a romantic night with the Doctor, a night of passion without us having to fear Mia would find us.

“No!” she said. “Daddy said I can’t.”

Oh.

“Oh, sweetheart, that’s my mistake. I forgot to tell him,” I said, ashamed of myself. It was one thing to forget to tell the Doctor, but it was another if it affected my precious child so. “It’s okay, you can go.”

Her face lit up. “Really?”

“Yes, they’re probably waiting for you already, ready to start. Good night, _accanim_ ,” I said, kissing her chubby cheek. She giggled and squealed, cuddling with me for a moment before letting go of me.

The Doctor clearing his throat made us look up, Mia triumphantly, me... chagrined. “I’m sorry, love, I...” I began, standing.

“You go and have fun, _yanapili’sam_ ,” he said, sliding down the door frame to a crouching position. He held his arms open for her, and Mia went to give him a hug and a kiss good night. Then she took off towards the Pagao family’s part of the house. The Doctor stretched his legs out beneath him and sat on the pale pink kitchen floor. “Well.”

“Well,” I said, “I thought it would be nice to have the night off.”

He nodded thoughtfully. Then, terrified, he looked up. “I haven’t forgotten something important, have I?”

I laughed. “No, you haven’t. Actually, it was the _nimi_ ’s idea to have a sleepover, and Tayar told me this afternoon while you were busy building the castle.”

”Oh.”

“I have prepared a little something. For later. Fancy a walk on the beach?” I asked, retrieving the picnic basket from its hiding place and holding out my hand for him, wiggling my fingers invitingly, just like he’d done all those years ago in the falling ashes of Christmas. He took my hand, stood and pulled me towards him.

“Does that mean we have the house all to ourselves tonight?” he asked, drawing me closer. He kissed me gently.

“That’s the general idea of sending kids to sleepovers, yes,” I said.

“I was horrible to her,” he said, his delight fading.

I chuckled. “She’ll forgive you anything, _iyo_. I should have told you.”

“Good thing I know how you can make it up to me then,” he said, the smile returning to his face.

“It doesn’t happen to involve a walk on the beach, does it?”

“Actually, _ngudia sam_ , it does,” he said, leaning in for another kiss. He was swaying gently from side to side as he held me, as if dancing to music only he could hear. “ _Semrath ngudia tu ki faro_?”

“Tell me,” I mumbled into his shoulder. He smelled of a day spent at the beach, a warm, salty smell that made me want to crawl into him more than ever. For a moment, when his lips found mine again and he deepened the kiss, I was tempted to have the picnic in bed, but everything was ready on the beach. I’d so wanted to be with him on the beach, for a long time, that this moment was worth giving up for the memories I hoped we were going to make.

“Come, c’mon, let’s go to the beach, yeah?” I whispered, a little breathless.

“I was... I want to...”

“Please?”

He sighed but smiled. “Yeah.”

I let go of him and bent to retrieve the picnic hamper from underneath the counter. His eyes widened a little when he saw it, and he took it from me at once, weighing it appreciatively. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you,” he said, grinning.

“Beats me,” I shrugged, tucking my tongue into the corner of my mouth. I held out my hand to him. He took it, his fingers sliding in between mine, and we went down the wooden path to the beach. The boards were still warm beneath my feet, and, as always just after dusk, the Ruulim cricket population began their concert. The closer we got to the beach, the more clearly I could hear the surf, and it struck me that this night was perfect. Although we usually took walks on the beach I had never felt so overcome with happiness as I did that night. I squeezed the Doctor’s fingers, not knowing what to do with myself, how to show my joy. I couldn’t even laugh out loud.

We dropped off the basket in our pavilion, then went to the end of the jetty and sat, our feet in the water. “You’re very quiet,” he said softly, both his hands gripping the edge of the jetty, his knuckles pale in the moonlight.

“I’m so happy, Doctor,” I said.

His head whipped around. “You are?”

“Yeah,” I said, looking at my hands. There were no words, not in all the languages of the universe, to express how I felt at that moment. It was like loving him, in a way. I would never be able to tell him, and even showing him, making love to him sometimes failed to get the whole idea across, because ultimately, I’d get distracted by my own pleasure, even when I wanted it to be all about him. The closest I ever got was when we shared _imiyatun_. I lifted my gaze to look out over the cove. The moonlight was incredibly beautiful on the water, like liquid diamonds. “I love you and Mia so much it hurts,” I whispered.

“Oh. Rose...” There was more that he wanted to say but I knew that, just like me, he was still helpless in the power of our love. No matter how long we’d be together, I didn’t think we’d ever understand it, or try to tame it into something less raw. I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to let that happen.

“It’s so overwhelming sometimes,” I continued softly. “But I like it that way.”

“Good,” he said, a smile in his voice. “I suppose.”

We didn’t speak for a few moments, and then the moment was gone. I drew up my feet. The water was still pleasantly warm, and I suddenly knew how to vent my joy without regressing into a squealing teenager. The Doctor’s eyes followed me as I stood. His jaw dropped as I took the hem of my dress and pulled it up and over my head. I brushed off my knickers and held out my hand to him. “Let’s go for a swim.”

He just stared at me, and the intensity of his expression sent shivers down my spine. He stood, and I watched him as he began to undress unhurriedly, his eyes never leaving my face. Bit by bit he revealed his chest, but I resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, to run my fingers through the hair there. His shirt rustled to the ground as he shrugged it off. I must have sighed, or whimpered, or made some such embarrassing sound because he sighed too.

“Like what you see then?” he asked.

My eyes snapped up to his. I had expected him to look at me with that mischievous glint in them, but the look on his face was almost one of astonishment. “You’re gorgeous in the moonlight,” I said. His skin looked like velvet and silk, shimmering and shining at the same time. If I touched it, it would feel smooth and _malialion_ , his muscles rippling beneath it. I shifted my weight and took a small step back. “Take the rest of your clothes off.”

He unbuttoned his trousers, let them slide down his legs and stepped out of them. He was getting hard in his pants, and I gestured for him to take them off as well. I curled my toes into the pale wood. “ _Tam shia ngarthu_ ,” I whispered, unmoving.

He sighed, and hardened a little more, despite himself. He’d never been good at accepting compliments, no matter how cocky he could be sometimes. That was just part of his façade. But I had peeled those layers off long ago. Still, his coyness surprised me every time I told him that he was beautiful.

I stepped towards him and placed my hands over his hearts. They were beating fast.

“Rose,” he said. I met his eyes as he reached out for me and his fingers fanned out on my back. “I love you.” He said the three words with so much sincerity that my heart skipped a beat.

I slid my hands up around his neck and stepped closer into his arms for a deep kiss. His erection pressed into my stomach and I moaned as desire flared up inside me. He hummed in appreciation as I explored his mouth with my tongue. When his taste washed over me I was surprised by how hungry I was for him.

He surprised me by literally sweeping me off my feet as he returned the kiss. One arm around my shoulders, the other beneath the backs of my knees, he held me close, and all I could do was squeal and wrap my arms around his neck. He began to chuckle, which soon became a laugh when he turned around and around. He threw his head back in delight as he let out his joy. I had never seen him like this before, so I held on to him and smiled.

Suddenly, he yelped as he lost his balance, stepping into thin air instead of on solid wood. His hold around me tightened as I cried out. Then we hit the water with a loud splash. The water, although warm, was still a shock on my hot skin, and as I opened my mouth under water, all the air rushed from my lungs. We were sinking deeper and deeper, our combined weight and momentum pulling us down. For some reason, I was unable to let go of him.

The splash rang in my ears and was replaced with the muffled sound of sloshing water as we sank, clouds of bubbles swirling around us. Other than that, there was no sound at first. Then, I could hear the blood rushing in my ears as my heart beat out a frantic rhythm. I needed to get up, to get away from the Doctor.

His skin looked ghostly pale under water, his hair floating around him like a dark halo. His eyes were closed, and, unable to breathe, I willed him to look at me. Finally, I managed to let go of him with one hand to touch his temple and let him know I needed to breathe. Something was weighing down heavy on my chest and it was not his arms holding me to him.

::I need to breathe,:: I cried at him in my thoughts.

A constant trail of bubbles was escaping his nose, but other than that he looked perfectly fine. He could hold his breath for a long time. His eyes snapped open, panicked. He let go of my legs to cup the back of my head and draw me towards him. :: _Lyansu'ra_ ,:: he urged me. ::Trust me.::

I kissed him, and when his tongue begged entry I opened up for him. Air began to stream into my lungs as he shared his breath with me. ::Easy, easy,:: he told me as he sensed my desire to draw in big lungfuls of air.

As soon as my feet hit the sand at the bottom of the cove, I let go of him and pushed myself upwards, drawing back my arms to gain even more momentum. The water wasn’t very deep at this point, but I had lost orientation because the fall had come as such a surprise. I tried to stay calm, but my instinct to get up, to rise and break the surface to breathe fresh air was overwhelming. The Doctor was so surprised that he let go of me and I slipped away from him, upwards.

After what seemed a very long time, I finally broke the surface and gasped for air, drawing in of it as much as I could, at the same time treading water to keep myself afloat. The first few lungfuls were painful and once or twice I spluttered as I breathed in a bit of water as well. But I could breathe, and that was all that mattered.


	2. Chapter 2

“Doctor!” I turned around myself to check for him.

He broke the surface behind me, shaking the water out of his hair. “I’m here,” he said, perfectly calm. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” I breathed. “Yes, I am.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Don’t be,” I said. “Although... shame about... well. The distraction’s gone now.”

He chuckled. “It is, yeah. Disappointed?”

“Nope,” I said, moving towards him to wrap my arms around his neck again. I pulled myself flush against him, his penis nestling into my curls.

He groaned as I moved against him. “Rose.”

“Yes?” I said, peppering his face with kisses. For a moment, he forgot to keep us afloat and we sank beneath the surface again, but this time it was me who captured his lips for a kiss. With a few powerful strokes of his legs he propelled us upwards again, and when we broke the surface, we also broke the kiss.

“Kinam'sati,” he chuckled, brushing my wet hair out of my face, but then he sobered. “I want you, Rose.”

“I’m yours. Yamu’sati.” He hardened at that, but I pushed away from him, swimming towards the beach instead of climbing the jetty to walk to the pavilion. The water caressing my skin as I swam was very sensual and I didn’t want to miss that. We hardly ever went skinny-dipping, and I wanted to make the most of it. I heard the Doctor cutting through the water with powerful strokes behind me. I swam until I could lie in the gentle surf on my back.

The Doctor slid over me and claimed my lips in a gentle kiss. “Enjoy your swim?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Surprisingly, he was still hard as he pushed me back into even shallower water so that the waves didn’t buoy him up and away from me when they washed over us. When we finally rested on the sand and the water only lapped at our legs, I could feel him press into my thigh.

We kissed for a while, enjoying the time we had to ourselves. My eyes were always closed when I kissed him to shut out the world. Images of him, naked, on the jetty made it difficult to concentrate, and so I rolled us over to straddle him. I wanted to see him in the moonlight. He was even more beautiful now that his skin was wet and glistening in the cool light. I licked my lips. He rested his hands on my thighs, casting first a glance at his erection and then at me.

“Rose...” he began. “As wonderful as this is... Do you have any idea how beautiful you are in this light? Rose, we have to move. We won’t be comfortable here.” His voice had become more and more strained as I caressed him. I hated that we had to move, but he was right. I stood, holding out my hand for him. He took it, climbed to his feet and let me lead him to the pavilion.

Once there, he opened his mouth to say something. “Shush,” I said, silencing him with my fingers on his lips. I rose on my toes to kiss him, and as I did, I reached between us to give his cock a few strokes. He groaned and arched into me.

Pressing into him, I whispered for him to lie down. As soon as he lay on his back, I straddled him again. I leaned down to kiss him, drawing lazy patterns on his skin with my fingertips, making my way down to his cock. I wrapped my fingers around him and ran my thumb over the tip. He groaned and shuddered. I hadn’t realised how close he already was. Sitting up, I set a rhythm I knew he enjoyed. I chuckled when he buried his hand in the cushions in the attempt to find purchase as the pleasure built in him. Resting my hand above his right heart, I enjoyed its frantic beating and his heavy breathing.

“Look at me, Doctor,” I said, remembering the way he had looked at me earlier.

His eyes fluttered open, and he smiled. “Alunim’ra foyem,” he murmured. “Please, Rose, make me come.”

“Help me,” I said, stretching out beside him. He moaned in protest when I let go of him to take his hand and guide it to his cock. Together we picked up where I had left off, and I leaned down to kiss him. I draped my leg over him so he could feel how wet I was, and I rubbed myself on his thigh, moaning into his mouth.

“Foyemsi'ra sam, ngarthu sam,” I whispered. He had closed his fingers around mine, and although we had been together all these years, there were a few twists and flicks that helped him come that I hadn’t known about. The intimacy of helping him was intensely erotic, and I felt a new wave of arousal wash over me. I kissed every bit of him I could reach, then started to crawl down his body, tasting the water on his skin as I slowed the rhythm a little.

“Rose!” he cried in frustration.

“Soon, yamu’sati,” I promised.

He cried out when I took the head of his cock between my lips. I knew that the warmth of my mouth was shocking but it also helped him along. His fingers dropped away and tangled in my wet hair as I started to lick and kiss him.

“Rose, oh Rose,” he moaned, trying to keep still. I cupped his hipbone with my hand to reassure him.

::You taste so good, yamu’sati,:: I told him in our thoughts. ::Come for me. I’ve got you.::

I felt him tense and harden further, and I withdrew; I wanted to see him when he came. I pulled back just in time to see him grimace in concentration and pleasure, and then, accompanied with a groan and my name on his lips, he erupted all over my hand and his stomach. The sight of him was so hot that I came along with him, albeit not as strongly. It was pleasant, it made me moan softly, and it was promising.

His body went slack as he lay still, drawing in shuddering breaths. After I’d licked my fingers clean, I stretched out beside him in the cushions and held him, drawing idle patterns on his chest.

“Hey,” I whispered when he opened his eyes. He wore that adorable, goofy grin he only had after we made love. I kissed him softly and rested my head on his shoulder.

“I wanted to come inside you,” he said, trailing his fingers along my shoulder.

“Tough, I wanted to see you come,” I said, grinning.

“You, Rose Tyler, are the–”

“Careful there, Time Lord,” I said, mock-sternly.

“Oi! I was gonna say, the... the...” he faltered, clamping his mouth shut and closing his eyes in frustration.

“Yeah?” I said, propping myself up on my elbow and looking at him expectantly.

“There are no words to describe you, Rose,” he said, clearly distressed by his lack of vocabulary. He looked at me and reached up to cup my cheek. “I love you. So much.”

My heart skipped a beat. “And I you. Iyo.”

-:-

A while later we shared the picnic I had prepared. The Doctor had fetched our clothes from the jetty because the air had cooled off considerably; sitting there naked was just too uncomfortable. Besides, peeling him out of his clothes would be so much fun when we made love again. He had been reluctant to get up and have supper, not without pleasuring me first, but his growling stomach had put an end to the discussion. While he’d been gone I’d lit the lanterns and spread out the food I had brought on the low table. The sandcastle the Doctor and Mia had built was bathed in the moonlight.

“Thank you,” the Doctor said.

I put down my cup of wine. “What for?”

He shrugged. “For everything.”

I stared at him for a while, not knowing what to say. I owed him this beautiful life, and sometimes I felt it was asking too much, asking him to stay with us when there were so many things to see and to discover out there amongst the stars. Sometimes, I felt as though Mia and I clipped his wings. I looked down at my lap. Moments like this, when he thanked me, were reassuring as well as heartbreaking. My first Doctor had been terrified of being domestic, and he... he seemed to bask in it. As if it was the best thing ever to happen to him. It was hard to believe, but he’d said it, and I had to believe him.

I looked up and smiled. He returned my smile and finished the bread and the dip. And then I realised there was something he wanted to tell me but didn’t know how. Those were the rare frightening moments in life; for some reason, despite knowing better, I kept thinking he’d ask to travel again. Not just for the occasional trips he took now, but to give up life at Sho and resume his nomadic lifestyle.

He took in a shuddering breath and held on to his cup of wine. “Rose, I... when I played with Mia today, and later, when I was bathing her I wondered... No matter how much she loves the Pagaonimi...” he said, stammering nervously. In the end he gave up and closed his eyes in frustration. Whatever he was going to tell me, I thought it shouldn’t be so difficult. Not after all we’d been through.

I shifted and sat next to him, taking his free hand. “What is it, Doctor?” I asked, probably just as anxious as he, but I was better at concealing my feelings.

“Can we have another baby, Rose?” he blurted, looking at me. “I promised you we’d stay here to see our children grow up, and... and Mia seems happy, but I think she would adore a little brother or a sister.”

Jonah’s ghost made me shiver. “Oh.”

“Rose, I...” he said, turning towards me to take my hands. I could see in his eyes that he, too, was thinking of Jonah. But he’d always been reluctant to grant the ghost of our lost boy too much power over us. “It’s been on my mind for quite a while. I don’t want Mia to be alone.”

“Yes,” I whispered.

“What?”

“Yes,” I said, meeting his eyes and cupping his cheek. I chuckled in relief. “Yes, let’s make a baby.” I didn’t want her to be alone either. I knew what it was like to grow up as an only child, and I didn’t want Mia to have the same experience.

“What... now?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“Tired, Time Lord?” I asked, tucking my tongue in the corner of my mouth.

He scoffed. “’course not.”

“Well then,” I said, starting to unbutton his shirt. To my surprise, he batted my fingers away. I looked at him in surprise, dropping my hands into my lap. Had I done something wrong?

“Let’s get this thing out of the way first,” he said, starting to clear the table. “I want to... I don’t want to hurt you.”

There was a teasing reply on the tip of my tongue but I bit it back. This was not the right moment for teasing. The Doctor was still vulnerable. I wondered how long he’d been carrying that idea around with him, and I couldn’t help feeling a little hurt that it had taken him so long to ask me.

When we had cleared everything away, our mood was nearly solemn as we sat in the middle of the pavilion. It occurred to me then that it was like a nest with its cushions and blankets. The occasional breath of air made the wind chime tinkle softly, and I was reminded of the first time we returned to Lufana after San Girolamo.

I stood, just as I had done earlier on the jetty, and pulled my dress up and over my head. Then I took my knickers off and flung them away. The light from the lanterns made our skin glow warmly, and I was about to drop to my knees to continue unbuttoning the Doctor’s shirt when he gripped me around the waist.

He rose to his knees and started to kiss my stomach, my hips, my thighs and my navel. I dropped my hands into his damp hair and watched him. When he could be sure that I’d hold still, he let go of my waist and trailed his fingertips over my skin. I let my head fall back and closed my eyes, enjoying his caresses. The idea that all this was about creating a new life heightened my senses and my arousal. I sighed softly, sending out a silent prayer to whoever was listening to let it happen tonight. It was such a perfect night.

I cried out when the Doctor pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh, nudging me with his nose to open up to him. His hand was cupping my bum, squeezing my flesh gently. “Please, Rose,” he murmured, not stopping his kissing and nipping.

“Let me...” I asked him, moving slightly. I wanted to lie down for this, but again he held me by the waist. I widened my stance a little to give him access, and I curled my fingers into his hair when he kissed his way to my core.

“Doctor,” I cried when his malialion tongue found my clit and started playing with it. The heady mix of desire and pleasure made my knees wobbly and it took all my concentration to remain standing. At the same time, he did these wonderful things to me, knowing exactly what to do to bring me to the edge but pull me back at the last moment. Afraid of hurting him, I dropped my hands from his hair to his shoulders. At times I rocked away from him, when his ministrations were unbearably exquisite, like when he sucked on my folds, brushing his thumb over my clit. “Doctor!” I cried out, but all I could hear was a strange, undignified gurgle.

“What, Rose?” he said, withdrawing briefly to look at me. His lips were glistening in the lambent light. He licked them, the bastard.

“Make me come.”

He grinned. He grabbed the back of my knee and draped my leg over his shoulder, holding me fast so I didn’t fall. He really wanted to make me come standing upright with nothing to lean on. “Doctor, Doctor...” I moaned as he began to suckle and lick in earnest. I curled my fingers into the taut flesh of his shoulders to keep my balance. What he was doing was... breathtaking. The softness of his coolwarm tongue alone was beautiful, but he managed to make the world go pale around me as it vanished and all I knew was that I was floating in sweet agony as his love-making became my world. I moaned his name and all the endearments and encouragement I could come up with as he pushed me over the edge and I fell.

He caught me as my knees buckled, cradling me to him as I curled my fingers into the material of his shirt and rode out the waves of my pleasure. His fingers were between my legs, caressing me as I came down, and he bent to kiss me. I moaned and shuddered with another small orgasm as my own taste exploded on my tongue. His fingers were in my hair, and his thoughts of love and wonder filled me, making my bask in the warmth of him.

“Are you all right?” he asked, looking at me with a little concern in his eyes.

“More’n all right,” I mumbled, cuddling into him. As I did so, I could feel the hard length of him pressing into my thigh. “You enjoyed that too?”

“Always,” he said, grinning. He lowered his lips to mine and kissed me gently at first, allowing me to catch my breath before stealing it away again by deepening the kiss. Somehow I managed to undo his buttons and to slip my hand inside his shirt. I grazed my fingers over his pecs, through the chest hair and over his nipple. His hearts, I found to my delight, were beating out a fast rhythm.

“Let’s get rid of your clothes,” I said, struggling to sit and shift so I could do just that. He helped me undress him, and finally we fell in a tangle of limbs, naked, into the cushions, laughing and kissing any part of the other we could reach.

“What do you want, Rose?” he asked, tucking my damp hair behind my ear.

“I want you on top,” I said, teasing his nipple before reaching down to cup him. “As close to me as possible. I want... I want this to be slow.”

He held my gaze, then drew me towards him for another kiss.

“Is that all right?” I asked.

“Perfect,” he mumbled, taking my bottom lip between his. He cupped my breast and massaged it just right, rolling the tip between his fingers as he started to kiss along my jaw and to the spot just below my ear. I lay back, sighing softly, my hands dropping on the cushion on either side of my head. I was his and I wanted him to know it.

“We’re going to make a baby,” he whispered, his breath brushing my ear. I shivered.

“Yeah.”

“I love you so much, Rose Tyler.”

I opened my legs and he shifted to lie between them, his cock pressing into my curls. I pulled him flush against me; I needed to feel as much of his skin against mine. “Ngudia sam,” I murmured.

To my surprise, he rolled over so we lay facing each other. “I fear I... I want you like this,” he said, hooking my leg over his hip. The tip of his erection brushed over my centre and I moaned with pleasure. “Anything, Doctor,” I said.

He aligned himself and with one slow stroke he buried himself inside me. The feeling of being whole was overwhelming and we sighed in unison. I stroked his cheek and kissed him lightly as he held still, giving us time to adjust. “You feel so wonderful,” I said, kissing the tip of his nose.

He hummed, smiling. We stayed like this for a few more moments before he started a lazy rhythm. As he did, he shifted just a little, and when he pushed back inside me, his thigh pressed against my clit and my eyes fluttered shut. “Oh... so good,” I moaned.

He chuckled. He set a pleasurable rhythm, caressing and kissing me, whispering to me words whose meaning I didn’t catch but that were so full of love I was the happiest woman in the universe.

I was the first to come, arching into him. He held me, slowing his rocking a little, but when it was over he rolled me onto my back. “Sham gar'ngun, ngarthu sam, ildiem tu faronn,” he whispered.

“’s okay,” I said, opening myself wider to him. He sank deeper inside me, groaning with the sensation. Hooking my leg over his elbow, he resumed his rhythm, and slowly picked up the pace. I found purchase in the cushions and arched into him, wanting to feel as much of him as possible. “Oh so good,” I sighed. I could feel another orgasm build as he brushed the perfect spot inside me thanks to the new angle.

He thrust harder into me, stealing kisses from my lips when he could, until I felt him harden further and then, after one last stroke, still inside me as he spilled himself into me. I clenched my muscles around him, holding him fast as he started to move again. “Rose!” he cried out. “Oh, Rose!” I followed him over the edge, falling and falling into white nothingness.

-:-

We drifted off to sleep for a while afterwards, a sweaty, happy mess of tangled limbs and sloppy kisses. The Doctor had managed to pull one of the blankets over us as he snuggled up to me from behind. Both our hands rested on my stomach.

-:-

The next morning, I was plaiting Mia’s hair for another day on the beach when she asked me, “Mummy?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Daddy and I made something for you last night. He hasn’t told you, has he?” she asked, turning around on her stool, anxious to be the one to tell me about my surprise.

“No, he hasn’t,” I said, dropping a kiss on her forehead, thinking that, hopefully, he and I had made something for her too. “What is it?”

Mia stood and reached into the pocket of her dress, fishing out a transparent length of thread. It was only when she opened her small fist and revealed the clasp that I realised she had made me a necklace.

“I found this on the beach yesterday. Daddy says it’s a pearl; they grow inside shells,” she said proudly. The pearl was tiny and not perfectly smooth, but it shimmered in the most beautiful colours as the morning light fell on it in my daughter’s palm. “Do you like it? He made the hole so I could put it on the necklace.”

“It’s beautiful,” I said. “Thank you. Can you put it on for me?” I dropped to my knees and lifted my hair. That was why they had put their heads together the previous day. The necklace was just long enough so the pearl nestled in the hollow at the base of my throat. Since she had used a transparent thread it looked like it sat there by itself.

“Thank you so much, yanapili’sam,” I said. I rarely used the word because it was the Doctor’s endearment for her. I kissed and cuddled her to me, thinking that she and the Doctor were the best thing to ever happen to me.

I could see the Doctor leaning against the door frame, smiling and mouthing three words.

End


End file.
